


Closer

by AstriferousSprite



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/F, Gardens & Gardening, Sentient Plants, War, it's a war in the stars but it aint a /star war/ ya feel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-29 20:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10861623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstriferousSprite/pseuds/AstriferousSprite
Summary: Nothing could keep Rose and Rey apart. Not even being on opposite ends of the war.





	Closer

**Author's Note:**

> Shamelessly based off of [this adorable short film](https://vimeo.com/67596206), because space lesbians and flowers are my weakness.

**Target: Locked.**

**Target: Locked.**

**Target: Locked.**

Rose frowned as she locked the Jakku bases, absentmindedly pressing the red button.

**Missiles launched.**

She sighed.

Being a soldier in the War was not half as exciting as she anticipated—it was mostly blindly following orders and orbiting alone in space while the Supreme Leader barked commands from the many screens above her work station.

Well, _almost_ alone.

Earlier, she and Rey had crossed paths. They had reached out for each other in the darkness of space, but as usual, their tethers were just too short—and they couldn’t make it. Instead, the Jakku woman had gently let go of the flower she was holding, and let it float towards Rose.

_So close, yet so far._

As expected from someone whose name was literally Rose, she adored flowers. So when Rey had first begun their little rendezvous bearing fresh blossoms, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she had fallen in love a little. Of course, she had tried to reciprocate in the best way an engineer could; little scraps of metal fused into creative shapes and sculptures. And if Rey’s smiles were anything to go by, she liked them.

But Rose wanted a little more today.

Releasing herself from the control panel (she’d bombed enough military bases today), she floated over to her workstation—a tiny little corner with her welding station and a projection of the planet with its satellites. With a few presses of the keyboard, every orbit disappeared—all except for two.

 _D’Qar Lambda_ and the _Pandora._

_Rey._

Rose smiled as the computer counted down the time until their orbits would cross once again. **Eighty-three minutes until intersection.**

Floating over to her workbench, she picked up a screwdriver from next to the row of flowers. Oh, Rey was going to _love_ this.

 

On the other side, a certain Jakku biologist was hard at work.

The President was shouting in the background (as was regulation aboard a military ship), but Rey hardly paid him any attention as she drew calculations and data around her in a glowing blue haze. Her official job was to study their native flora for medicinal and biochemical applications, but she and her superiors all knew it was just an excuse for her to continue gardening away from the chaos of war. Research was just on the side.

Well, mostly gardening.

Something flew behind her. Rey smiled, rolling her eyes.

“Bee, I know you’re there,” she said softly.

The something flew in front of her calculations; though its scientific name was _Bibirali octas,_ Rey always preferred to call her leafy companion by a shorter nickname. It was a curious little organism that almost resembled a bird, with its orange beak and spotted leaves that stuck up.

“Hello, buddy.”

Bee twirled around her calculations, dissolving them into blue pixels before assuming a “ta-da!”-like pose. Rey chuckled.

“I agree, I think I should take a break,” she said, letting Bee twirl around her and drag her across the station. It was partially a floating greenhouse, with all sorts of flora growing around the walls and creeping around the circular windows.

However, as they flew past the projection of the planet, Rey couldn’t help but float back.

Bee raised its head eagerly, still in front of the greenhouse room, before drooping. She could almost sense what it was thinking: _come on._

“Ten more minutes, Bee,” she whispered, fondly looking at the projections of the little ships. Their own flower-shaped ship was moving closer to the armored D’Qar station. “It’s her turn, I wonder what she’ll bring?” She sighed. “Oh, I hope the Shekiah lily was good enough for her…”

Rey looked up from the holo, resting her head in her powder-blue hands. Oh, she was smitten.

 

Back on the _Lambda,_ Rose was working at the bench.

Grabbling a loose nut from the space around her, she continued to put the finishing touches on her little project (which was coming along nicely), hardly looking up except to glance at the flowers hovering behind all her cluttered junk (most of them were beginning to dry up, except for the most recent two) for reference.

A sudden whirl of noise startled her. Looking behind her, she noticed the countdown had progressed significantly since she started: **Thirty seconds until intersection.**

Cursing, she looked back at her workbench, where the scrap-metal flowerpot rest. _Guess it looks good enough,_ she thought, grabbing it and floating over to the airlock. Suited up, she prepared to head out.

The _Pandora_ loomed in the distance as Rose head out, tightly anchored to her own ship. With an opening of its shutter doors, a figure floated out, in a much sleeker spacesuit than Rose’s own clunky one.

_Rey!_

Rose tightly held on to the flowerpot as she sailed towards her love. Maybe this time they’d be close enough? Maybe now, they’d be able to reach out and—

Her tether tugged.

_Not today, then._

Rose gently thrust the flower forward towards Rey, who grabbed onto it and looked at her with an undeniably fond expression.

The glances that followed could have been interpreted as a silent conversation. _You really outdid yourself this time._

_Oh, it was nothing._

They spun around each other, gazing into each other’s eyes for as long as they could before their tethers retracted back into their respective ships.

Sailing back towards the _Lambda,_ Rose gave her love one last wave goodbye. _See you in two hours._

 

Rey smiled fondly as she was pulled back towards the _Pandora._

Bee lifted its head in greeting. _What did she give you this time?_

“Look!” she said, holding up the metal flowerpot. It was amazingly detailed, with rust-red petals and delicate wire stamen. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Humming, she floated over to the greenhouse, gently placing the flowerpot among the other floating gifts from Rose. “Oh, I’ve got to give her something like that in return,” she said. The mist system had started up, leaving the room cool and pleasantly damp. “Maybe the Theodractic raffilia, it looks a bit like nuts and bolts, you know?”

Bee nodded, curling up on a wide flower. _She’d love that, I think._

She sighed, eyes warm. “I love her so much, Bee.”

 

Rose sailed back into the station, not bothering to take her suit off.

 _Did she like it?_ she thought, gazing out the wide window. _Of course she did, look at how she smiled. But, like, did she **like** it? Does she like me? Does she know that I—_

“Soldiers, remember where your loyalties lie!”

Frowning, Rose turned back to look at the screens where the Supreme Leader was yammering on. “Oh, shut it,” she grumbled, floating back to the control panel.

Rey’s flower floated in front of the screen.

Rose sighed, grabbing it and pulling it out of the way. _At least there’s you, Rey._ She looked straight ahead, seeing the image of the _Pandora_ slowly floating away. _And you’re still in range!_

Zooming in, she was just in time to capture a tender moment within the ship: Rey smiling gently, stroking the petals of the scrap-metal flower while her little floating plant looked at it with what could be described as a grin.

Rose’s heart leaped. She just _had_ to preserve this moment.

**Target: Locked.**

Sighing contently, she leaned against the panel, resting her head in her palm. One day, after the war, maybe they could—

Her elbow hit the red button.

**Missile launched.**

Jolting up, Rose screamed. No, she couldn’t have—this was a joke, right?

It wasn’t.

Peering out the window, she saw the missile being readied. In less than a minute, the _Pandora_ would be struck—another enemy combatant down.

“Never forget that it was the Jakku who have caused our misery!”

Rose snarled at the Supreme Leader. It wasn’t the Jakku—it was this pointless war that was ruining her life.

There were a few safety protocols put in place on the _Lambda,_ including an automatic escape pod on the control panel. Rose knew that if she head out just in time, she could intersect the missile and stop it from hitting Rey. Potentially at the cost of her own life. But if she couldn’t die for her love, what use was there in living? More orders, more bombings, more mindless fighting.

She couldn’t live for that anymore.

“Piss off,” she hissed, peeling off her soldier’s ID and slapping Rey’s flower onto her chest.

She pulled down the escape lever, hard.

The pod shot off. Rose followed the path of the missile, with steel in her eyes. _I will not let you down._

Rey didn’t notice the missile at first, completely engrossed in her meditation.

It was Bee who saw it coming; curled up next to the window, it spotted the projectile rushing towards them almost at the last moment. Had it been able to scream it would have; instead, all it could do was stare at it with its beak hanging open in shock.

But death never came.

Instead, something else crossed its path, making it explode right outside the ship.

Rey couldn’t hear it—this was space, there was nothing to hear—but she could feel how the _Pandora_ shook with the impact of _something._ Blinking her eyes, all she could make out was a cloud of ash and fire—and a single Shekiah lily blossom.

Heart in her throat, she floated towards the window. Her fears were confirmed when from the ash floated out a figure in a clunky suit. _At least she’s still alive…_

Rey’s heart jolted as Rose frantically waved, only to be thrown aside as her pod self-destructed.

She made up her mind almost immediately; there was no chance she would let her love die out in the cold of space.

Almost immediately, she was floating out. Rose shook again, then jolted around as Rey extended her arm to her. _Please, let me reach her. Please, let me reach her…_

But the tether was too short.

Just as soon as they grabbed hands, the cord pulled her back, and Rose was slipping out of her grasp.

Rey’s heart sank as her love tumbled away, eyes wide with fear as she screamed. Was this how it was always destined? Would her beloved D’Qar woman always escape her reach?

Something crawled behind her. Rey’s heart leaped as Bee snaked around her arm, extending its stem as far as it could with its beak open. Just a bit further…

 _Yes!_ It bit down firmly on Rose’s gloved hand. Rey pulled tightly on its stem, praying that this would work.

Bee kept holding on firmly, even as Rey kept pulling it back. Rose drew closer and closer to her, and soon, Bee was letting go as they free-floated towards each other.

And for once, the universe answered their prayers.

Rey nearly sobbed with relief as Rose reached out to her and embraced hers. Finally, after so long of fleeting moments and hasty gifts, the love of her life was safe in her arms. At this moment, there was no war raging on below them; there were no supreme leaders or presidents, no sentries or missiles. There was only the two of them, suspended in space.

 

Rose hadn’t spoken a single word since she boarded the _Pandora._

Honestly, she didn’t know if she could trust herself to speak. Here she was on her girlfriend’s ship, with no bombing orders, while Rey fussed about and brought her fresh fruit (she had a lovely voice—clear and flowing, like the rivers back home). Frankly, had it not been for the President’s orders in the background, she would have thought this to be a dream.

“You alright?” asked Rey from the control room.

Rose nodded, looking around the greenhouse. A lump rose in her throat when she realized Rey had kept every last one of her little gifts. _What did I do to deserve her?_

Still, she knew how much of a fuss it would make once someone found out that a Jakku scientist was hosting a D’Qar soldier on her ship.

“What now?” she asked, when there was a sudden shift in the background noise. Confused, she floated over to the control room, where Rey was smiling ear-to-ear and dancing with her plant friend.

“Look!” she said, pointing to the screen. When Rose turned her face to it, what greeted her wasn’t the blue face of the president—but rather, fireworks. Planetside fireworks.

The war had ended!

“ _Yes!_ ” Rose cheered, floating over to tackle-hug Rey. “Do you know what this means? I can stay here!”

Rey laughed. “Oh, I could kiss you right now.”

And then froze. “I mean, only if you want to—”

Rose scoffed. For a scientist, she sure was ignorant sometimes. “I think we’ve waited long enough,” she said softly, brushing loose strands of moonlight-blue hair from her face.

Rey hummed, before leaning and kissing her with the passion of the past year behind it.

“I changed my mind,” Rose gasped as soon as they parted. “I can’t stay here, I’ve got to take you home.”

“Why, what’s wrong with here?” asked Rey, forehead against Rose’s.

She snorted, kissing her softly. “I can’t marry you in space, silly.”

Rey’s eyes widened. “Marry?”

“You think I’d spend all that time making metal flowers for a girl I’d leave behind as soon as this war ended?” Rose hummed, continuing to stroke her hair. “I love you so much, and if you’ll allow me, I want to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Rey sniffled.

“Is that a yes?”

“ _Yes,_ ” said Rey, pulling her in close for a tight hug. “Yes, yes, _yes._ ”

They laughed, holding onto each other as Bee encircled them with a fond smile. Forget war—Rose’s future was in her arms, peppering her with gentle kisses and bright smiles.

Outside, the fireworks raged on, in colorful blue and red.

**Author's Note:**

> So when will the rose/rey tag fill itself, or do two people have to do all the work around here?  
> Anyways, hmu on tumblr [@lesbiangffa](https://lesbiangffa.tumblr.com) if you like star wars and lesbians


End file.
